Huffington Post: Izima Kaoru's 'Landscape With A Corpse': Artist Creates Staged Death Portraits In Jarring Fashion Series (PHOTOS)

Japanese artist Izima Kaoru is a fashion photographer by trade, but his ongoing series "Landscape with a Corpse" appears more like an elaborate performance art project that your typical magazine spread. 

For the series, Kaoru asked female models to imagine their own deaths, creating jaw-dropping images from the grim details his subjects provided. From the exact location and setting of their fictional demise down to the couture outfits they wish to be wearing during their final moments, the resulting portraits are a morbid take on high-fashion.

Kaoru began his unique landscape photos in 1995, recruiting mostly female models to not only describe their own hypothetical deaths but also to act out these scenes in glossy, stylized snapshots. Dressed in Prada and Yves Saint Laurent, the bold actresses are shown lying in an empty, snow-covered field or contorted on the floor of a luxurious apartment, living out their fantasies of dramatic, idealized deaths.

"I always thought that fashion magazines should work to liven up everyday life, or to evoke new ways of thinking towards life," Kaoru told The Huffington Post in an email. "And I thought ['Landscape with a Corpse'] could open the door more widely for the Japanese who tend to turn their backs on the taboos of death."

 Kaoru has continued the project for nearly two decades, interviewing a host of subjects on their deepest morbid desires. Having devoted so much time to the subject, Kaoru has certainly had time to develop his own ideas on a person's final chapter. "There is no good or bad in death," Kaoru explains. "Everyone should be content with the life they lived when they look back and leave the real world for the next."

Read more @ Huffington Post

UNIQUE | Wall Street International Magazine — Arts Agenda

Matthew Brandt, from the series Lakes and Reservoirs, Silver Lake, WA 3, 2010
chromogenic print soaked in Silver Lake water, 30 x 40 inches. © Matthew Brandt,
Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Unique

30 May – 12 July 2013 at Von Lintel Gallery, New York.

Von Lintel Gallery is pleased to present Unique, a group show of non-editioned photography. Often made without negatives or a camera, the exhibited work is created with unique and diverse techniques that result in one-of-a-kind photographs. The included artists represent several generations, including Pierre Cordier and Floris Neusüss, who have been pioneers in the field of camera-less, unique photography since the 1950s.

In 1956, the Belgian artist Pierre Cordier invented the chemigram, a technique that employs resists to protect areas of the photosensitive paper from successive submersion in developer and fixer. Since 2011, Cordier has collaborated with the Austrian painter Gundi Falk. Floris Neusüss, a German photographer, explores the technical and visual possibilities of the photogram to create an innovative body of work that includes ethereal silhouettes of nude women and mysterious images of the natural world at night. Cordier and Neusüss share a spirit of experimentation and a desire to explore the infinite possibilities inherent to the chemistry of photographic paper and processes with the younger artists in the show. Following in Cordier's chemigram tradition, Amanda Means delicately scores light-sensitive paper with a grid pattern and flows developer over it, creating organic abstract compositions that are inspired by her close connection with nature. Means worked for many years as a master printmaker for other artists, including Robert Mapplethorpe, and the fluid process she employs is liberating in contrast with the exacting precision that work required. Matthew Brandt uses the subjects of his Western landscape photographs as ingredients in their production. He soaks images of lakes in water from the same source, distorting colors and abstracting the captured vistas. John Chiara travels the California coastline with a room-size camera obscura of his own creation hitched to his car, capturing landscapes directly on photographic paper. His method invites exposure and processing anomalies, making the process part of the imagery.

Although he starts with representational photographs, like Brandt and Chiara, Curtis Mann moves toward abstraction by obstructing journalistic scenes of conflict with chemically etched circles and stripes. Drawing on the tradition of photograms of the human body and of the natural world that Neusüss explores, Klea McKenna uses light-sensitive paper to capture images of elements, such as raindrops, while the Hungarian photographer Agnes Eperjesi projects multilayered and brightly colored shadows of hands, flowers, and household objects.


Read more @ Wall Street International Magazine

 

UNIQUE | Opening Reception: Thursday, May 30, 6 — 8 PM

UNIQUE
May 30 — July 12, 2013
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 30, 6 — 8 PM


Von Lintel Gallery is pleased to present UNIQUE, a group show of non-editioned photography. Often made without negatives or a camera, the exhibited work is created with unique and diverse techniques that result in one-of-a-kind photographs. The included artists represent several generations, including Pierre Cordier and Floris Neusüss, who have been pioneers in the field of camera-less, unique photography since the 1950s. 

 In 1956, the Belgian artist Pierre Cordier invented the chemigram, a technique that employs resists to protect areas of the photosensitive paper from successive submersion in developer and fixer. Since 2011, Cordier has collaborated with the Austrian painter Gundi Falk. Floris Neusüss, a German photographer, explores the technical and visual possibilities of the photogram to create an innovative body of work that includes ethereal silhouettes of nude women and mysterious images of the natural world at night. Cordier and Neusüss share a spirit of experimentation and a desire to explore the infinite possibilities inherent to the chemistry of photographic paper and processes with the younger artists in the show. 

Following in Cordier's chemigram tradition, Amanda Means delicately scores light-sensitive paper with a grid pattern and flows developer over it, creating organic abstract compositions that are inspired by her close connection with nature. Means worked for many years as a master printmaker for other artists, including Robert Mapplethorpe, and the fluid process she employs is liberating in contrast with the exacting precision that work required. Matthew Brandt uses the subjects of his Western landscape photographs as ingredients in their production. He soaks images of lakes in water from the same source, distorting colors and abstracting the captured vistas. John Chiara travels the California coastline with a room-size camera obscura of his own creation hitched to his car, capturing landscapes directly on photographic paper. His method invites exposure and processing anomalies, making the process part of the imagery. Although he starts with representational photographs, like Brandt and Chiara, Curtis Mann moves toward abstraction by obstructing journalistic scenes of conflict with chemically etched circles and stripes. Drawing on the tradition of photograms of the human body and of the natural world that Neusüss explores, Klea McKenna uses light-sensitive paper to capture images of elements, such as raindrops, while the Hungarian photographer Agnes Eperjesi projects multilayered and brightly colored shadows of hands, flowers, and household objects. 

From left to right: Floris Neusüss, Stü Puck 2, 1991, silver gelatin print, 88 1/2 x 41 3/4 inches. Matthew Brandt, from the series Lakes and Reservoirs, Silver Lake, WA 3, 2010, chromogenic print soaked in Silver Lake water, 30 x 40 inches. John Chiara, Simmons: Fort Barry: Bunker Road, 2012, image on Ilfochrome paper, 34 x 28 inches. Pierre Cordier & Gundi Falk, Chemigram 20/9/11 "Impair-Pair", 2011, chemigram on paper, 19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches. Klea McKenna, Rain Study #20, 2013, photogram on gelatin silver fiber paper, 24 x 20 inches. Curtis Mann, Sun Flare, 2011, bleached chromogenic print, 30 x 40 inches. Amanda Means, Grid Abstraction #40, 2005, developer on Ilford matte gelatin silver fiber paper, 24 x 20 inches. Agnes Eperjesi, Step Over the Border 9, 2011, color photogram, 10 x 20 3/4 inches.

UNIQUE | Floris Neusüss

Floris Neusüss, Nachtbild 63, 1987
silver gelatin pront, unique
25 x 20 1/2 inches

Floris Neusüss, Nachtbild 41, 1989
silver gelatin print, unique
17 3/4 x12 1/2 inches

Floris Neusüss, Nachtbild 48, 1991
silver gelatin print, unique
68 x 42 inches

Floris Neusüss, Nachtbild 71, 1999
silver gelatin print, unique
16 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches

Floris Neusüss, Sonn 1, 1998
silver gelatin print, unique
16 13/4 x 11 1/2 inches

Floris Neusüss, Puck 2, 1991
silver gelatin print, unique
88 x 42 inches

-->

FLORIS NEUSÜSS

           

1937   Born in Remscheid Lennep, Germany     

Lives and works in Kassel, Germany

           

EDUCATION

1953   Painting and Photography, Werkkunstschule, Wuppertal, Germany

1958-60 Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie, Munich, Germany

1960-62 Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Berlin, Germany

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS       

2009   Floris Neusüss – Early Works, Galleria Carla Sozzani, Mailand, Italy  

           

2008   Wunderkammer Museum, Deutsches Museum München, Germany

           

2007   Floris Neusüss Fotogramme, Galerie Griesebach Berlin, Germany

2005   Floris Neusüss, Shade Nature – Light Shapes, Art Association Augsburg, Germany

2003   Floris Neusüss Fotogramme, Galerie Camera Work, Berlin, Germany

Floris M. Neusuess, Glyptothek Munich, Germany

1998   Nachtstücke, Fotogramme von 1957-1997, Rheinisches, Germany

           

1997   Nachtstücke, Museum Schloß Arolsen, Germany                                  

           

1990   ULO's et Hommes, Galerie du Château d'Eau, Toulouse, France

1989   Photogramme und Nachtbilder, Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg, Germany

1988   Fotoforum, Bremen, Germany

            Anita Neugebauer Gallery, Basel, Switzerland

            Striped House Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan

1987   Striped House Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan

1983   Fotogramme - die lichtreichen Schatten, Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany

1982   Benteler Gallery, Houston, TX

            Stephen White Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1977   Neusüss Fotografie 1957-1977, Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany

            Terre, Eau, Feu, Air, Canon Gallerie, Genf, Germany

1976   Photographers Gallery, London, UK

            Neugebauer Gallery, Basel, Switzerland

1974   Floris M. Neusüss Fotografien, ZAPAF Gallery, Warschau, Poland

            Nagel Gallery, Berlin, Germany

1973   Il Diaframma Gallery, Mailand, Italy

1968   Clarissa Gallery, Hannover, Germany

            Porta Gallery, Wuppertal, Germany

1967   Galerie Nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria

1966   Europacenter Gallery, Berlin, Germany

1965   Galerie des Jeunes, Paris, France

1964   Galerie Nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria

            Landesbildstelle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

           

1963   Photokina, kuratiert from L Fritz Gruber, Cologne, Germany

            Galerie Brebaum, Duesseldorf, Germany

            Galerie in der Hiltonkolonnade, Berlin, Germany

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2013   UNIQUE, Von Lintel Gallery, New York, NY

2005   Kind International, Zurich, Switzerland

Art Cologne Fair also in Focus Gallery, Cologne, Germany

2004   Il Nudo, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy  

            Of Bodies and other Things, Museum Bochum, Germany

Of Bodies and other Things, Moscow House OF Photography, Moscow, Russia

Of Bodies and other Things, German Historical Museum, Berlin, Germany

2003   New Gallery, Kassel, Germany

In Focus Gallery, Cologne, Germany

On the Body and other Things, Town Center Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

2001   Resounds, National Gallery Moritzburg, Germany

           

2000   Fotogrammas, KOWASA Gallery, Barcelona, Spain   

1999   In Focus Gallery, Cologne, Germany

Camera Work, Berlin, Germany

           

1998   Fotografie in Deutschland seit 1945, Sammlung Schupmann, Museum Schloß Arolsen, Germany                    

            ULOs, Arte Fiera, Instituto di cultura germanica, Bologna, Italy    

1997   Rheinisches Federal State Museum, Bonn, Germany

1995   Moholy and present company, Art Institute of Chicago, IL       

            Sander Gallery, New York, NY

1993   Experimental Vision, Denver Art Museum, CO 

           

1992   Art association, Heidelberg, Germany

1990   Selections from the Graham and Susan Nash Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA

           

1990   Anweseneheit bei Abwesenheit, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland        

1989   Abstraction in Photographie, Zabriskie Gallery, New York, NY

            Photogramme und Nachtbilder, Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg, Germany

            Das Foto als autonomes Bild, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany

            Fotografie als Kunst - Kunst als Fotografie, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany

1988   Photogramme, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany

            Photo Vision, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany

1987   Fotografische Bilder, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany

Schrecken und Hoffnung, Hamburger KunsthalIe, Münchner Stadtmuseum, Germany       

Schrecken und Hoffnung, Staatliche Gemäldegalerie Moskau, Staatliche Eremitage St. Petersburg, Russia

            Fotogramme 1918 - heute, Goethe Institut München, Munich, Germany

1986   Die 60erJahre - Kölns Weg zur Kunstmetropole, Kölner Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany

1985   Recent Photographic self Portraiture, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY

            Bilder mit Fotografien, PPS Gallery, Hamburg, Berlin  

            FIAC Kunstmesse Paris, Galerie Texbraun, Paris, France

            Alles und noch viel mehr, Kunstmuseum und Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland

            Photographie, Patience et Ennui, Goethe Institut Paris, France

Das Selbstportrait im Zeitalter der Fotografie, Musee Cantonal des Beaux - Arts, Lausanne, Stuttgart, Berlin, Germany

FIAC Kunstmesse Paris - Galerie Texbraun, Paris, France

Der Schein des Objektiven, Art Cologne, Germany

1984   Künstler fotografieren - fotografierte Künstler, Galerie Mitte, Dresden, Germany

1983   Photo Museum, Munich, Germany

            Lenselles photography, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA

            100 Lochkameras - 100 Fotografien, Galerie Giannozzo, Berlin, Germany

1982   Momentbild - Künstlerfotografie, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany

            Künstler arbeiten mit Fotos, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany

Lichtbildnisse - Das Portrait in der Fotografie, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany

            Berlin fotografisch, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany

1981   Photo - no Photo, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Germany

            Erweiterte Fotografie, Wiener Sezession, Austria

            Fotografie in Kassel - Kassel in Fotografien, Orangerie Kassel, Germany

1980   La linea sottile, Galerie Flavinia, Locamo, Switzerland

            Instantanes, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

            Glanzlichter der Fotografie, Photokina Köln, Cologne, Germany

1979   Fotografie 1919 bis 1979, Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany

            Deutsche Fotografie nach 1945, Kasseler Kunstverein, Germany

Das Bildnis des Künstlers - Selbstdarstellungen, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany

1977  Malerei und Fotografie im Dialog, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland

            Über Fotografie, Westfälischer Kunstverein Münster, Germany

            Vier deutsche Fotografen, Galerie Spectrum, Hannover, Germany

1976   Phantastic Photography in Europe, Arles, France

1975   Fotografie von 1929 bis 1975, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany

1974   Künstleraktionen in Schaufenstern, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany

1973   Die Bedeutung der Fotografie, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria

1972   VIPs der Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany

1970   Der Bildungstrieb der Stoffe, Kunsthalle Nümberg, Germany

1969   Vision and Expression, George Eastman House Rochester, NY

            Photo 69, Rhodes National Gallery, Salisbury, UK

1968   Foto-Grafik, Kestner Museum, Hannover, Germany

            Photokina, Cologne, Germany

1967   5eme Biennale des Jeunes, Paris, France

1965   Herbstsalon, Munich, Germany

1964   Freunde junger Künstler, Lenbachhaus München, Munich, Germany

1961   Salon international du portrait photographique Bibliothekque Nationale, Paris, France 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2012   Barnes, Martin. Shadow Catchers – Camera, less photography. London: London, New York - V&A, Merrell, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2012.

            Pohlmann, Ulrich. Knierim, Fabian. Floris Michael Neusüss – Traumbilder. Munich, Germany: Hatje Cantz, October 31, 2012.

2011   Kraft, Aron. Das Fotogramm - die frühen Anfänge. GRIN Verlag, May 30,

2011.

Masters, Christopher. Windows in Art. Merrell Publishers, December 27, 2011.

2010   Barnes, Martin. Shadow Catchers – Camera, less photography. London: London, New York - V&A, Merrell, 2010.

2009   Moholy-Nagy, László. Moholy-Nagy, The Photograms : Catalogue Raisonné. Germany: Ostfildern - Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2009.

            Icon Group International. Floris: Webster's Quotations, Facts and Phrases. ICON Group International, Inc., May 1, 2009.

2007   Die zweite Avantgarde - Fotoforum Kassel, 1972-1982. Halle, Germany:

Halle - Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2007.

2006   Zuckriegl, Margit. Neusüss, Floris M. and Salzburger Landessammlungen Rupertinum. Kamera los, das Fotogramm : eine künstlerische Position von der Klassik bis zur Gegenwart. Salzburg: A Pustet, 2006.

2003   Wünsche, Raimund. Anteidola: Fotogramme von Floris Neusüss. Munich, Germany: München Glyptothek, 2003.

            Heyne, Renate and Neusüss, Floris. Kunst und Fotografie - Floris Neusüss und die Kasseler Schule für Experimentelle Fotografie
1972 – 2002. Marburg, Germany: Marburg Jonas-Verlag, 2003.

            Sanzenbacher, Steffen. Fotografie als Medium zwischen Wissenschaft und Okkultismus. Germany: Diplomarbeiten Agentur diplom.de, January 1, 2003.

2001   T O Immisch. Floris Neusüss. Körperbilder, Fotogramme der sechziger Jahre. Halle, Germany: Halle: Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle, 2001.

            Museum Ludwig Cologne. 20th Century Photography. Cologne, Germany: Taschen, May 15, 2001.

2000   Neusüss, Floris and Cardorff Peter. ULO´s Wunderbar: Hangout fuer Kunst und Philosophie. Düsseldorf, Germany: Parerga, 2000.

1998   Sayag, Alain. Aillagon, Jean-Jacques. Lottman, Herbert R. and L'Ecotais, Emmanuelle de. ManRay - Photography and Its Double. Corte Medera, CA: Gingko Press, 1998.

1997   Honnef, Klaus. Nachtstücke, Fotogramme 1957 – 1997. Cologne, Germany: Reihnland-Verlag GmbH, 1997.

1996   Laszlo, Moholy-Nagy.Fotogramme 1922-1943 : aus den Sammlungen des Musée national dʹart moderne, Centre de création industrielle, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris und des Museum Folkwang, Essen. Munich, Germany: SchirmerMosel, 1996.

1995   Linck, Daniela. Konstruiert oder authentisch?: Photographische "Wirklichkeit" als Inszenierung über die Inszenierung des Dokumentarischen in der Photographie. Germany: Diplomarbeiten Agentur diplom.de, January 1, 1995.

1994   Coke, Van Deren. Forecast Shifts & Direction. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of Fine Arts, Museums of New Mexico, 1994.

Neususs, Floris M. Hagen, Charles and Sharp, Lewis. Experimental Vision

The Evolution of the Photogram since 1919. Niwot, Colo. - Roberts Rinehart Publishers in association with the Denver Art Museum, 1994

1992   Neususs, Floris M. Floris M. Neususs: Fotogramme. Der Kunstverein, 1992.

1990   Heyne, Renate and Neusüss, Floris. Das Fotogramm in der Kunst des 20.

Jahrhunderts, die andere Seite der Bilder Fotografie ohne Kamera. Cologne, Germany: DuMont Buchverlag, 1990.

1989   Photogramme und Nachtbilder. Marburg, Germany: Marburger Kunstverein, 1989.

Das Foto als autonomes Bild. Bielfefeld, Germany: Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 1989

Fotografie als Kunst – Kunst als Fotografie. Berlin, Germany: Berlinische Galerie, 1989.

            Photogrammes. Paris, France: Nathan, 1989.

1988   Photogramme. Hannover, Germany: Sprengel Museum, 1988.

Photo Vision. Hannover, Germany: Sprengel Museum, 1988.

1987   Fotografische Bilder. Mannheim, Germany: Mannheimer Kunstverein, 1987.

Schrecken und Hoffnung. Germany: Hamburger KunsthalIe, Münchner Stadtmuseum. Russia: Staatliche Gemäldegalerie Moskau, Staatliche Eremitage St. Petersburg, 1987. Fotogramme 1918 – heute. Munich, Germany: Goethe Institut München, 1987.

1986   Die 60erJahre - Kölns Weg zur Kunstmetropole. Köln, Germany: Kölner 

            Kunstverein, 1986.

1985   Alles und noch viel mehr. Bern, Switzerland: Kunstmuseum und Kunsthalle Bern, 1985.

            Photographie, Patience et Ennui. Paris, France: Goethe Institut Paris, 1985.

Das Selbstportrait im Zeitalter der Fotografie. Lausanne, Stuttgart, Berlin: Musee Cantonal des Beaux - Arts, 1985.

Der Schein des Objektiven. Cologne, Germany: Art Cologne, 1985.

1984   Künstler fotografieren - fotografierte Künstler. Dresden, Germany: Galerie Mitte, 1984.

1983   Neusüss, Floris. Fotogramme - die lichtreichen Schatten. Kassel, Germany: Fotoforum Kassel, 1983.

            Fotogramme - die lichtreichen Schatten. Munich, Germany: Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, 1983.

            Lenselles photography. Philadelphia, PA: The Franklin Institute, 1983.

            100 Lochkameras - 100 Fotografien. Berlin, Germany: Galerie Giannozzo, 1983.

1982   Neususs, Floris M. Photo recycling photo - ein Bermuda-Dreieck für die Fotografie. Kassel, Germany: Bermuda-Dreieck für Fotografie, Universität Kassel, 1982.

1979   Neususs, Floris M. Photography as art, art as photography. Köln,

Germany: DuMont, 1979.

1977   Neusüss, Floris M. Fotografie 1957-1977. Kassel, Germany: Genève - FM Neusüss, Canon Photo Gallery, 1977.

1976   Figiuren und MaBstabe. 1961-1976 Zur Asstellung in der Photographers' Gallery, London. Kassel, Germany: Copyright by Silbersalz Press, 1976.

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Deutsches Museum, Munich

George Eastman House, Rochester, NY

Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France

Museum Ludwig, Köln, Germany

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM

Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany

Staatliche Museen, Kassel, Germany

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK